32 Years as a Division I Coach

Jim Molinari took over the Western Illinois program at the start of the 2008-09 season, and during his fourth season at the helm of the Leatherneck men's basketball program, Molinari put Western Illinois basketball back on the map and was tabbed Summit League 'Coach of the Year' by CollegeInsider.com.

The 2011-12 Leathernecks took part in the 2012 College Basketball Invitational presented by Zebra Pen after making an exciting run in The Summit League Tournament that included wins over North Dakota State and top-seeded Oral Roberts, before a heartbreaking, overtime loss to South Dakota State in the championship game. Western’s quarterfinal win over NDSU was the program’s first tournament win since the 1999 tournament, and the Leathernecks' appearance in the title game was the first since 1997. After being picked to finish ninth out of 10 teams in the preseason poll, Western finished 2011-12 with an 18-15 overall record, went 9-9 in Summit League games, and earned the fourth-seed in the conference tournament. Western's winning record marked the first of its kind in 12 years, and the team’s 18 wins was the most since the 1996-97 season when the Leathernecks went 19-10. Compared to the rest of the nation, Western concluded the season ranked in the top-30 of four national categories, including: 11th in personal fouls per game (15.0), 12th in three-point field goal percentage (39.5), 22nd in scoring defense (60.2), and 27th in turnovers per game (11.4). The Leathernecks were also able to draw more fans to Western Hall in 2011-12 than in years past, seeing a season-high 2,276 fans attend the Leathernecks’ season-finale win over Nebraska-Omaha. Western also drew 2,124 fans for Oakland, 1,897 versus IUPUI and 1,624 against Eastern Illinois, the four-highest home attendance games since playing Indiana at home in the 2005-06 season (5,021). Under the guidance of Molinari, three Leathernecks earned Summit League honors, led by senior Ceola Clark III who was tabbed 'Defensive Player of the Year' for the second time in his career, as well as Second Team All-Conference. Clark is the only player in league history to have earned the honor twice. Clark was also tabbed 2012 Mid-Major Defensive All-American by CollegeInsider.com. Junior Terell Parks was named All-Summit League Honorable Mention, and to the league's All-Newcomer team, while freshman Obi Emegano was also a member of the All-Newcomer team.

In 2010-11, Molinari reached the 250-career win plateau on Dec. 8, 2010 with a home victory over Culver-Stockton. While the team battled injuries to starters (13 different starting line-ups), Molinari helped guide senior Matt Lander to an honorable-mention All-Summit League honor. Lander, who was also named to the Mayan Division All-Tournament Team at 2010 Cancun Challenge, led the Summit League in made free throws (164) and also topped the Fighting Leathernecks in scoring (17.0 ppg), assists (2.7 apg) and minutes played (36.2 mpg). As a team, Western Illinois led the Summit League in scoring defense (64.8 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (42.9%).

In the 2009-10 season, Molinari led Western Illinois to The Summit League Tournament with sophomore Ceola Clark earning both Summit League Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Conference honors. It was the first time in program history that a Western player earned the yearly accolade and the first time in 10 years that the Leathernecks had a first team member.

In his first season (2008-09) he began a rebuilding process of the Fighting Leatherneck program and coached the Fighting Leathernecks to the best conference start since the 1997-98 season. Molinari coached Western's highest leading scorer since the 1996-97 season in senior David DuBois, also a Summit League all-conference selection.

Off the court, Molinari's team excelled in the classroom as it earned a 3.231 team GPA for the Fall 2008 semester, the best GPA of the men’s basketball team for at least 11 years and a higher GPA then that of the Macomb campus (2.880). The Leathernecks had 10 players on the roster with a 3.0 GPA or better and two players with a perfect 4.0 GPA. DuBois became one of only two league players to earn 2008-09 CoSida/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team honors. In the following season, senior David Nurse became the only Summit League player to earn the 2009-10 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team award as a first-year graduate student.

In 2007-08, he served as an assistant coach at Ball State, following a three-year stint at Minnesota in which he was the interim head coach for most of the 2006-07 season. Throughout his career he has appeared in 19 postseason tournaments, including seven as a head coach.

In his first season as an assistant at Minnesota, his defensive emphasis helped the Gophers rank third in Big Ten scoring defense (62.7 points per game), just a half-point behind Michigan State and two points behind Illinois. They led the league in field goal percentage defense (.424) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.274) in conference play, and allowed 62.9 points per league game, the fewest since the 1981-82 season. In 2005, Street & Smith’s named Molinari the “best assistant in the Big Ten Conference.”

For 11 seasons, from 1991-2002, Molinari was the head coach at Bradley University, where he amassed a 174-152 (.534) record and guided the Braves to the postseason six times - five National Invitation Tournament appearances and the 1996 NCAA Tournament.

From 1989-91, he was the head coach at Northern Illinois, where he posted a record of 42-17 (.712). The Huskies won the 1991 Mid-Continent Conference title, going 25-6 and setting a school record for wins.

At DePaul from 1979-89, Molinari helped both Ray and Joey Meyer return the Blue Demons to national prominence. Over 10 seasons at DePaul, Molinari helped recruit college and professional stars such as Mark Aguirre, Dallas Comegys, Tyrone Corbin, Terry Cummings and Rod Strickland -- players who led DePaul to nine NCAA Tournaments and a runner-up finish in the NIT.

A Defensive Mindset That Turns Programs Around
In only his second season at Western Illinois, the Leatherneck defense opened 2010 in the NCAA statistical rankings as it held opponents to 58.2 points per game for a No. 22 ranking out of 334 teams (1/4/10). By the week of February 22, Western had reached its highest ranking of the season as it sat at No. 10 for the first time. Western closed out its season with the No. 10 ranking as it held opponents to only 59.6 points per game, leading the Summit League. Clark was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Year at the close of the season, the first time in program history a Western Illinois player earned the yearly honor.

A two-time conference coach of the year -- 1991 Mid-Continent Conference and 1996 Missouri Valley Conference -- Molinari’s coaching success was built on defense. While averaging better than 17 wins per season, Molinari’s first 12 teams finished among the nation’s top 24 defensive squads 10 times.

In his two years at NIU, his teams finished fifth and second, respectively, in team defense on the national level. In his first nine years at Bradley, the Braves placed among the nation’s leaders in all but two seasons for either points allowed per game or field goal percentage allowed.

At Northern, Molinari inherited a program that had not won as many as 17 games in a season since 1981, but made a quick turnaround with a 17-win season followed by a 25-win campaign. At Bradley, he took over a program that managed just a 32-54 mark in the three previous years. He needed just two years to right the ship before beginning a three-year stretch of 20-win seasons, which included two trips to the NIT and one to the NCAA Tournament. He left Bradley with more league wins than any other active coach in the Missouri Valley.

Academic Focus
Molinari has graduated nearly 90 percent of his student-athletes during his head coaching career, and while at Bradley, 24 out of 26 senior student-athletes received their degrees.

Molinari earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1977 and earned a Juris Doctor from DePaul in 1980.

As a Player
His college playing career began at Kansas State, where he teamed with current UNLV head coach Lon Kruger for two seasons. After transferring to Illinois Wesleyan, where he teamed with former NBA center Jack Sikma, Molinari helped the Titans win consecutive league titles, before entering the coaching ranks in 1978 as a part-time assistant with DePaul.

Additional Coaching Opportunities
In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Molinari is a veteran of national selection committees for international competition. He led the 1997 USA Basketball men’s team to a gold medal at the World University Games played in Trapani, Italy.

For two years in-between collegiate coaching positions, Molinari was an NBA scout for the Toronto Raptors (2002-03) and Miami Heat (2003-04).